Kaizen refers to the Japanese business philosophy of making continuous small improvements in one's personal and professional life. It is a key tenet of Japanese business process management and an essential element in Japanese culture. It's viewed by many as the primary reason for the phenomenal progress the Japanese have enjoyed during the last 20 years in the areas of quality assurance and productivity, and has been emulated in the West extensively. It is a philosophy that works, and it's directly applicable to the production of high-quality software.